Written by Jonathan Knight

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THE COMEBACK KIDS OF THE CUYAHOGA: Thursday night also marked the Indians’ 20th come-from-behind victory of the season, though only their fifth since June 1. A year ago, they tallied 30 for the entire season. It also was their largest comeback, matching the four-run deficit they overcame May 20 to beat Cincinnati.

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians’ all-time record against Toronto dropped to 186-186.

OOPS, PRONK DID IT AGAIN: Travis Hafner’s latest miracle on Thursday night marked the Tribe’s 14th win in its last at-bat this season and its sixth walk-off victory.

TALBOT’S TROUBLES: Mitch Talbot now hasn’t won a game in seven consecutive starts, since May 31 in Toronto. Since then, he’s 0-5 with a 7.43 ERA and the Indians lost six of those seven games. Putting his season-long troubles in perspective, if you take away his complete game shutout against the Angels on April 11, his season ERA balloons from 6.33 to 7.48.

THE OPPOSITE OF A ONE-TWO PUNCH: For the year, Fausto Carmona and Mitch Talbot are a combined 6-16 with an ERA of 5.98. Things have really spiraled out of control since May 19 - from which point they’re a stunning 2-13 with a 7.91 ERA. The Indians are 11-18 in games in which either Carmona or Talbot starts and 36-24 in games in which literally anyone else does.

EARLY TROUBLES: The Indians had a habit of digging themselves deep holes against Toronto. In the first four innings of each of the four games of the series, they were outscored 14-3. From the fifth inning on, they outscored the Blue Jays 14-11.

ALL THE DIFFERENCE: A side-by-side comparison of the statistics in the series shows many similarities except in one glaring area. Toronto’s starting pitchers posted an ERA of 1.07 in the series, while the Indians’ starters stood at 8.84.

THE POWER OF ONE: Jose Bautista hit more home runs in the series (four in 15 at-bats) than the entire Indians’ roster (two in 145 at-bats).

REMEMBER HIM?: Anybody get a pang of nostalgia when John McDonald subbed for Bautista in the final game of the series? Believe it or not it’s been seven years since the Indians dealt Johnny Mac, a 12th-round draft pick in 1996, to Toronto for Tom Mastny. After six years primarily as a sub in Cleveland (where he hit .231), he’s now in his seventh season primarily as a sub in Toronto (where he’s hit .239).

THE CLOSE ONES: The Indians are now 4-4 in extra-inning games, but have lost three of their last four. They’re 16-13 in one-run games.

THE RACE TO FIVE: It’s become a season-long trend in Indians games - whichever team gets to five runs first wins. The Indians are now 3-25 when their opponent scores at least five runs and 32-6 when they score five runs or more themselves. When the rare slugfest occurs, the Indians don’t fare much better - they’re now 3-7 in games in which both teams score five or more runs.

PROGRESS REPORT: The Indians are averaging 4.34 runs per game and allowing 4.29. Their team batting average is .250 (10th in the AL) and team ERA is 3.96 (ninth in the AL).

A YEAR AGO: After 89 games in 2010, the Indians stood at 35-54, last place in the AL Central, 15 games back of the first-place White Sox.

 

TORONTO SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Blue Jays outscored the Indians, 27-16 - two of the Blue Jays’ runs was unearned, as were four of the Indians’ runs. The Indians committed four errors and the Blue Jays committed three.

Overall Hitting

Toronto 48 for 157 (.306), 12 walks

Cleveland 38 for 145 (.262), 16 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Toronto 12 for 42 (.286), 32 left on base

Cleveland 12 for 49 (.245), 38 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Toronto 15 (5 HR)

Cleveland 9 (2 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Toronto 36.1 IP, 38 H, 16 BB, 30 SO, 13 ER, 3.22 ERA

Cleveland 37 IP, 48 H, 12 BB, 31 SO, 25 ER, 6.08 ERA

 

Staring Pitchers

Toronto 2-0; 25.2 IP, 23 H, 10 BB, 21 SO, 3 ER, 1.07 ERA

Cleveland 0-2; 18.1 IP, 30 H, 8 BB, 12 SO, 18 ER, 8.84 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Toronto 1-1, 1 save; 10.2 IP, 15 H, 6 BB, 9 SO, 10 ER, 8.43 ERA

Cleveland 1-1; 18.2 IP, 18 H, 4 BB, 19 SO, 7 ER, 3.37 ERA

 

UP NEXT:

at Baltimore Orioles [36-52]

(Thursday 7:05 p.m.; Friday 7:05 p.m.; Saturday 7:05 p.m., Sunday 1:35 p.m.)

Probable Starters:

Masterson (7-6, 2.64 ERA); Tomlin (10-4, 3.81 ERA); Carrasco (8-6, 4.28 ERA); Gomez (0-1, 4.91 ERA)

Last year: Series tied, 3-3

This year: Indians lead series, 3-0

 

at Minnesota Twins [41-48]

 (Monday 1:10 p.m. & 8:10 p.m., Tuesday 8:10 p.m., Wednesday 1:10 p.m.)

Probable Starters:

McAllister (0-0, 4.50 ERA); TBD; Masterson, Tomlin

Last year: Twins won series 12-6

This year: Twins lead series, 4-1